Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Make us laugh

The 3 stand-up comedians take the audience applause at the end of the set

Near the knuckle humour was the order of the day as international stand-up comedy made its debut in Phnom Penh tonight in front of an appreciative expat audience at Pontoon. Compere and final act of the evening, Aussie Jonathan Atherton milked the language angle for all it was worth, including his smattering of Khmer, as he opened and closed the show. He certainly knows how to work an Asian audience and will prove to be a popular frontman if the Comedy Club Asia can make this event a regular feature on the calendar. British Pakistani Muslim comedienne Shazia Mirza went down a storm as she rattled off her observational one-liners and self-deprecating humour, with a definite British bias, whilst American Ward Anderson got into his rhythm after a slow start to complete a line-up that kicked-off the Cambodian leg of the Asian comedy circuit in rip-roaring fashion. A word of warning to anyone planning to sit at the front; be prepared to have your age, sexual orientation and personal habits discussed amongst the audience, while hecklers beware of the savage comic put-downs. The three-hour show dragged on a bit with two extended intervals and this is something the organizers will have to look at in the future. However, the comedy gig gets a definite thumbs-up from me.